Narrow Defeat

They had got off to a bad start when the visitors put in a high ball and gained a penalty for offside in front of the home posts, which they duly converted. Kicker Kevin Leadbetter was to prove to be the Widnes hero scoring 18 of their points.
Wigton bounced back with a 60-metre break by Greg Smith who was stopped only ten metres short of the Widnes line. A diagonal driving ruck took the ball across the front of the Widnes posts for Tom Gardner to pick-up and drive over for Wigton’s first try, which was converted by David Hanabury.
From a lineout ten metres out, following a good positional kick, the Widnes forwards drove over in the corner with Leadbitter converting for a 10-7 lead.
The visitor’s stretched their lead to 13-7 with another Leadbitter penalty before Wigton rallied again. From a penalty, 10 metres out, the home pack bulldozed their way over for a pushover try credited to Robert Marrs. The conversion was missed, leaving Wigton just one point behind.
Again, Widnes hit back to extend their lead with a converted try and despite some courageous tackling, the visitors crossed for another converted try just before the interval, to go in with a 25-12 lead.
With few chances to score in the opening phases of the second half, Wigton finally reduced the arrears in the 55th minute. Hanabury did well to go past two players and set-up Callum Studholme for an unconverted try..
Richard Moffat drove over for another try in the corner as Wigton sensed victory but Widnes again edged further ahead with a penalty. Hanabury cut the gap to three points again with a penalty and in the closing stages Wigton were awarded a penalty 35 metres out in the middle of the field, but they opted to go for the try instead of snatching a possible draw and their efforts were thwarted by the heavier Widnes pack.